THE sight of the group of men literally falling out of a bar and hitting the pavement fighting should have been followed by a Singha vested and flip flop wearing John Wayne telling the farang varmits to never come back to Patong.

But it wasn?t. It was just another Thursday night in Patong, and instead, a petite Thai barmaid from the bar was struggling to pull them apart whilst the drunk men were trying to simultaneously stand and throw punches.

?One of the guys started drinking too much and was asked to pay and leave, but he wouldn?t, so he started arguing with a customer and they started fighting,? Noi, the barmaid said. But she was quick to point out that these incidents only happen around once a week, while in Bangla, ?it happens every night.?

Alistair Why, a local hotel owner who also works for the Tourist Police, believes that such skirmishes are inevitable when any two of the three elements of sex, drugs and women are present. Patong, as opposed to other parts of Phuket, is primarily marketed, targeted
and visited by young men, who traditionally enjoy drinking alcohol and meeting women.

However, a good night can quickly change into a bad one and can often descend into violence when people are intoxicated.

A hotelier in Patong who would like to remain anonymous recounts an incident involving one of her guests, ?He went to a bar, drank and then left, but didn?t pay! So the bar owner followed him to our place and asked him to pay, he wouldn?t. Luckily a friend of his did eventually pay and the situation was resolved.?

This is largely emblematic of a larger problem with holidaymakers; sometimes when people are in a holiday environment they forget that there are laws and rules to be observed and this ultimately results in trouble.

According to figures obtained from Patong police, there were nine incidents of drunk driving last month (June).
Chief Nurse of the emergency room at Patong hospital confirmed that of the 238 road accidents that occurred last month, in June, 55 of them were as a direct result of drivers being drunk.

?Alcohol is a big problem and makes accidents more serious, car accidents, motor cycle accidents and fighting, they are all more serious when people are drunk,? Nurse Wimonrat said.

Patong Police Officer Samsak Nguansan also advises holidaymakers on the ills of drinking so much, he said, ?In Thailand, there is no obligation to drink, {but there} is an obligation to behave well.?

The current economic climate is perhaps conducive to drinking amongst holiday makers. While tourist figures are declining, the holidaymakers that are visiting appear to be indulging less in costly activities like jet skiing and shopping and instead choosing the cheaper option of getting drunk.

Full pubs during ?happy hour? certainly seem to testify to this.

Alistair believes a reason for alcohol fuelled confrontations may be early closing times. ?People have travelled thousands of miles and all they want to do is have a drink with a pretty girl on their lap, they don?t want to be thrown out at 2 o?clock, it?s unnecessary.?

He admits that while Patong as opposed to other parts of Patong is justifiably known for its trouble, in comparison to other big European cities like London or Paris, the rates of violent incidents are minimal.

Justin Kingsley, of Justin?s Bar, Rawai agrees that alcohol is not really a huge problem on Phuket. His best trade comes from ex-pats between the hours of 4pm and 6pm and is usually a very quiet affair before they head off for dinner.The only trouble he gets is the very occasional stand off between young Muay Thai fighters who like to let loose after a hard week?s training.

Having said that, Thailand does have one of the world?s highest rates of alcohol consumption and also suffers from many of the social problems that traditionally accompany it.
Interestingly it also observes, quite strict, alcohol free religious festivals at odd times during the year.

Two solutions have been offered by native Patong-ites; Tee-total Police officer Samsak Nguansan said, ?If I was Prime minister, I?d pass a law so that nobody can drink.?
While a barmaid at a local bar offers another. ?People should drink more, so that they fall off their chairs naturally.?

But until a compromise between the two solutions is found, the situation is as the tourist T-shirt reads, likely to remain the ?same same.?